C.P. Princesses
PRINCESS ADELAIDE
BUILT: 1910, Fairfield Co. Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Adelaide, b. Angelika
L/B/D: 290 x 46 x 15 GROSS/NET TONS: 3061/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the mother of Queen Mary, the wife of King George V and the Duchess of Teck who had been Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold to Typaldos Bros. Steamship Co. of Piraeus, Greece, 1949. Renamed Angelika and was operated from Brindisi, Italy to Piraeus. Retired, 1965. Sold for scrap in 1975. Wrecked on the Italian coast while bound for Spezia and scrapped on the spot.
PRINCESS ALICE
BUILT: 1911, Swan, Hunter & Wigham, Richardson, Ltd, Newcastle, England
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Alice b. Aegaeon
L/B/D: 291 x 46 x 14 GROSS/NET TONS: 3099/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the daughter of Queen Victoria’s son, the Duke of Albany. (Prince Leopold)
FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold to Typaldos Bros. Steamship Co. of Piraeus, Greece, 1949. Renamed Aegaeon making weekly sailings to the Greek Islands of Tinos, Mykonos, Leros, Calymnos, Cos and Rhodes. In December 1966 the ship, while under tow, was wrecked at Civitavecchia.
PRINCESS BEATRICE
BUILT: 1903, British Columbia Marine Railway, Victoria, British Columbia
L/B/D: 193 x 37 x 15 GROSS/NET TONS: 1290/ PASSENGERS/AUTOS: 350/
PROPULSION: Triple expansion steam, 1392 HP SPEED: 13 knots
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Retired in 1928, replaced by the Princess Norah. Turned into a floating cannery, later scrapped.
PRINCESS CHARLOTTE
BUILT: 1908, Fairfield Co. Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Charlotte, b. Mediterranean
L/B/D: 330 x 47 x 24 GROSS/NET TONS: 3926/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and the daughter of Emperor Frederick of Germany.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold to Typaldos Bros. Steamship Co. of Piraeus, Greece, 1949. Renamed Mediterranean for service between Turkey, Greece, and Italy and rebuilt with one stack. Scrapped in 1965.
PRINCESS ELAINE
BUILT: 1928, John Brown & Co. Ltd. Clydebank, Scotland
L/B/D: 291 x 48 x 13 GROSS/NET TONS: 2027/
NAME TRANSLATION: It is unknown why the name Elaine was chosen for the vessel.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Sold in 1963 for use as a restaurant in Blaine, Washington; scrapped 1976.
PRINCESS ELIZABETH
BUILT: 1930, Fairfield Co., Glasgow, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Elizabeth, b. Pegasus, c. Highland Queen
L/B/D: 365 x 52 x 25 GROSS/NET TONS: 5251/
NAME TRANSLATION: For Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and the current (2019) Queen of England.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1961: sold to Epirotiki Line, renamed Pegasus and rebuilt with one funnel. 1973: Renamed Highland Queen. 1976: Scrapped
PRINCESS IRENE
BUILT: 1914, William Denny and Brothers Ltd, Dumbarton, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Irene b. HMS Princess Irene
L/B/D: 395 x 54 x 17 GROSS/NET TONS: 5394/
PROPULSION: 4 steam turbines, SPEED: 22.5 knots
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Irene of Hesse was married to Prince Henry of Prussia, a younger brother of Kaiser Wilhelm. The Princess Irene was originally to have been named Princess Melita after the daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Alfred, who committed suicide in 1900) but the name was changed as there was another vessel with that name. However, in 1918 the CPR cabin class Melita, although not a Princess, was completed and place in North Atlantic Service. The Princess Irene also never sailed in Canadian waters as, like her sister, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1914.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Converted to a minesweeper and blew up in Sheerness on 27 May 1915.
PRINCESS JOAN
BUILT: 1930, Fairfield Co., Glasgow, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Joan, b. Hermes
L/B/D: 365 x 52 x 25 GROSS/NET TONS: 5251/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the old steamer Joan, which was named for Joan Dunsmuir, wife of Robert Dunsmuir, coal baron and principal in the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway on Vancouver Island.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1961: sold to Epirotiki Line, renamed Hermes and rebuilt with one funnel. 1974: Scrapped.
PRINCESS KATHLEEN
BUILT: 1925, John Brown & Co. Ltd., Clydebank, Scotland
L/B/D: 350 x 60 x 17 GROSS/NET TONS: 5875/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named by Canadian Pacific President Sir Edward Beatty for his life-long friend Miss Kathleen Madill. One of Thomas Shaughnessy’s daughters was Marguerite Kathleen Shaughnessy and her name also may well have influenced the choice of the name for the steamer.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Ran aground 7 September 1952 off Lena Point, Alaska and sank. The remaining fuel on the Princess Kathleen, some 110,000 gallons of bunker C oil, were removed in May 2010, at the cost of 12 million dollars.
PRINCESS LOUISE
BUILT: 1921, Wallace Shipyard, North Vancouver, British Columbia
L/B/D: 317 x 48 x 35 GROSS/NET TONS: 4032/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the first Princess Louise and indirectly for Queen Victoria’s granddaughter.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1965: Sold for a restaurant ship in Long Beach, California
1989: Restaurant failed; the Princess Louise rolled over and sank at the dock
1990: raised, she was supposed to be resunk as a dive attraction, but insistent divers allegedly annoyed the owners so much they towed the Princess Louise out into the channel and sunk her out of the divers’ reach in 400 feet of water.
PRINCESS MAQUINNA
BUILT: 1913, B.C. Marine Railway Co. Ltd., Esquimalt, British Columbia
L/B/D: 232 x 38 x 15 GROSS/NET TONS: 1777/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the daughter of Chief Maquinna, the Nuu-Chah-Nulth leader who met Captain Cook and Captain Vancouver in the late 1700’s at Nootka Sound. CPR officials did not understand the Nuu-Chah-Nulth naming traditions. (The name Maquinna was an honorific within the tribe, meant to bestowed upon the chief only. While well intentioned, naming the vessel ‘Maquinna’ could be seen as an insult to the tribe.)
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1952: Stripped to hull, in use as barge as Taku. 1962: scrapped.
PRINCESS MARGARET
BUILT: 1914, William Denny and Brothers Ltd, Dumbarton, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Margaret b. HMS Princess Margaret
L/B/D: 395 x 54 x 17 GROSS/NET TONS: 5394/
PROPULSION: 4 steam turbines, SPEED: 22.5 knots
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the elder daughter of the Duke of Connaught (Prince Arthur again).
FINAL DISPOSITION: This vessel would never sail in Canada, as it was requisitioned by the British Admiralty for use in WWI. She was scrapped in 1929.
PRINCESS MARGUERITE (I)
BUILT: 1925, John Brown & Co. Ltd., Clydebank, Scotland
L/B/D: 350 x 60 x 17 GROSS/NET TONS: 5875/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the Honorable Marguerite Shaughnessy, daughter of the former CPR president, Lord Shaughnessy (formerly Sir Thomas Shaughnessy).
FINAL DISPOSITION: The 5875-ton, 22-knot express steamer Princess Marguerite, formerly in operation with the Princess Kathleen in the Canadian Pacific B. C. Coast Service on the Seattle- Victoria-Vancouver triangle run, was torpedoed and sunk on 17 August 1942 in the Mediterranean while in operation as a British troopship.
PRINCESS MARGUERITE (II)
BUILT: 1949, Fairfield Co., Glasgow, Scotland
L/B/D: 373 x 56 x 16 GROSS/NET TONS: 5911/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named to commemorate the first Princess Marguerite sunk during WWII.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1979: Officially retired. 1981: Refurbished, returned to service. 1988: Operations turned over to B.C. Stena Line. 1989: Withdrawn from service for final time after disastrous year under Stena Line. 1992: Converted to gambling ship in Singapore. 1997: scrapped at Alang, India after many failed ventures to return her to service.
PRINCESS MARY
BUILT: 1910, Bow, McLachlan & Co. Ltd., Paisley, Scotland
L/B/D: 248 x 40 x 14 GROSS/NET TONS: 2155/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the daughter of King George V and Queen Mary.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1952: Stripped to hull, upperworks turned into the Princess Mary Restaurant, hull sold to Union Steamship Company and used as barge as Bulk Carrier #2
1954: Bulk Carrier # 2 sinks
2006-7: Princess Mary Restaurant (with numerous unrelated additions) closes.
2011: Remains of the Princess Mary Restaurant dismantled.
PRINCESS MAY
BUILT: 1888, Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne, England
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Cass, b. Arthur, c. Ningchow, d. Hating, e. Princess May
L/B/D: 249 x 33 x 18 GROSS/NET TONS: 1717/1394
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the Duchess of York, later Queen Mary, the wife of George V. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York toured Canada in 1901, the year the Princess May was acquired.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Scuttled, 1935.
PRINCESS of NANAIMO
BUILT: 1950, Fairfield Co. Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess of Nanaimo, b. Princess of Acadia, C. Henry Osbourne
L/B/D: 358 x 62 x 14 GROSS/NET TONS: 6787/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the city the steamer was intended to serve.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1963: To the East Coast to replace the retiring Princess Helene; renamed Princess of Acadia. Replaced by the new Princess of Acadia in 1971; renamed Henry Osbourne. Scrapped in Spain, 1973.
PRINCESS NORAH
BUILT: 1928 Fairfield Co. Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess Norah, b. Queen of the North
L/B/D: 250 x 48 x 23 GROSS/NET TONS: 2731/
NAME TRANSLATION: The origin of Princess Norah is unknown.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1955-57: Operated jointly by Canadian Pacific and Canadian National as the Queen of the North. 1958: Sold to Northland Navigation Company. Renamed Canadian Prince.
1964: Grounded, converted to the Beachcomber nightclub in Kodiak, Alaska.
1980: Beachcomber closed when owner opens a new club. Later dismantled, with parts of the hull still visible today as a breakwater.
PRINCESS PATRICIA (I)
BUILT: 1902, Denny Bros., Dumbarton, Scotland
PREVIOUS: LATER NAMES: a. Queen Alexandra, b. Princess Patricia
L/B/D: 270 x 32 x 7 GROSS/NET TONS: 1158/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for the younger daughter of the Duke of Connaught (Prince Arthur, yet another son of Victoria), the Governor General of Canada in 1912. Princess Patricia toured Western Canada in 1912 with her parents, the year the steamer entered service.
FINAL DISPOSITION: After being dismantled and her machinery removed, the hull was beached and burned in July 1937 at Albert Head near Victoria.
PRINCESS PATRICIA (II)
BUILT: 1949, Fairfield Co. Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland
L/B/D: 356 x 56 x 16 GROSS/NET TONS: 5611 (6062 as cruise ship)/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named to commemorate the first Princess Patricia.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1978: retired from cruise service; 1986: Hotel ship for World’s Fair in Vancouver, B.C. 1995: Scrapped.
PRINCESS ROYAL
BUILT: 1907, British Columbia Marine Railway, Esquimalt, British Columbia
L/B/D: 228 x 40 x 17 GROSS/NET TONS: 1997/
PASSENGERS: 700-day passengers/164-overnight in 82 staterooms.
PROPULSION: Triple expansion steam engine. 1600 HP SPEED: 15 knots.
NAME TRANSLATION: Named to honor Princess Louise, Duchess of Fife, the daughter of Edward VII.
FINAL DISPOSITION: Scrapped, 1933.
PRINCESS SOPHIA
BUILT: 1912, Bow McLachlin & Co., Paisley, England
L/B/D: 245 x 44 x 12 GROSS/NET TONS: 2320/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for Princess Sophie, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and daughter of Emperor Frederick of Germany.
FINAL DISPOSITION: On 25 October 1918, the Sophia grounded on Vanderbilt Reef in Lynn Canal near Juneau, Alaska during a storm. It was decided not to abandon ship due to the rough weather in the hope that the storm would calm down. It was a decision that would lead to the loss of all 343 on board when the vessel slipped off the reef and sank. The sinking of the Princess Sophia was the worst maritime accident in the history of British Columbia and Alaska. The circumstances of the sinking remain controversial to this day, as some felt that all aboard could have been saved.
PRINCESS of VANCOUVER
BUILT: 1955, A. Stephen & Sons, Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland
PREVIOUS/LATER NAMES: a. Princess of Vancouver, b. Vancouver Island Princess, c. Princess of Vancouver, d. Nan Hai Ming Zhu e. Pearl of the South China Sea
OFFICIAL NUMBER: 5284998
L/B/D: 416 x 66 x15 GROSS/NET TONS: 5554/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named in complementary fashion for the other major city on the Vancouver-to-Nanaimo service for which the vessel was built
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1981: Sold to Ministry of Highways. 1985: to B.C. Ferries. 1987: Sold to B.C. Steamship Company and renamed Vancouver Island Princess. 1989: Sold to Stena Line. 1990: Retired. 1993: Sold to Stephanie Shipping, China, renamed Nan Hai Ming Zhu. 2001: Sold to Haveton Shipping of Hong Kong, renamed Pearl of the South China Sea. 2007: Listed as being in active service.
PRINCESS VICTORIA
BUILT: 1903, Swan & Hunter Ltd, Newcastle, England
L/B/D: 300 x 58 x 15 GROSS/NET TONS: 3167/
NAME TRANSLATION: Named for Princess Victoria, daughter of King Edward VII and the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The recent death of Queen Victoria and the fact that Victoria was the headquarters of the new steamship service also made the name very appropriate.
FINAL DISPOSITION: 1952: Retired and sold to Tahsis and Co. and converted to a barge.
1953: Sank.